Author: jrood

Oakland Airport Connector project advocates vow to work with FTA






BART has received the
Federal Transit Administration’s letter asking for further analysis of the
Oakland Airport Connector project’s impact on minority communities under Title
VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Over the past decade, BART has diligently
worked with the FTA to meet all its requirements and as a result, the FTA has
consistently signed off on every aspect of the Oakland Airport Connector (OAC).
In fact, as recently as December, the FTA informed BART it had approved the
project for what’s called "pre-award authority" to continue advancing
the project. It also invited BART to complete the steps to secure award of $25
million in federal New Starts funding and award of $70 million in Stimulus
funds. At the time, there was no mention that additional documentation was
needed.

Holiday weekend work to close Rosslyn, Arlington Cemetery stations






Throughout the President’s
Day Holiday weekend, Metro in the District of Columbia area will close the Rosslyn
Metrorail station on the Blue and Orange Lines and the Arlington Cemetery
Metrorail station on the Blue Line from 10 p.m., Friday, Feb. 12 to closing,
Monday, Feb. 15, while it undertakes a major track rehabilitation project.
Normal service will resume on Tuesday, Feb. 16, at 5 a.m. 



Maas to lead TranSystems’ Positive Train Control consulting services






David K. Maas, P.E., assistant
vice president, will lead TranSystems’ consulting services to support rail
industry clients with the implementation of Positive Train Control. He will
direct program management and technical support services including GIS mapping
and track database management services involving data capture, data extraction
and data validation services for track database systems to support PTC
implementation; program management services for commercial power installation
applications for wayside equipment; and related technical assistance and
consulting services to support the rail industry in the implementation of
Positive Train Control.

HRT welcomes public audit of light rail






Hampton Roads, Va.,
Transit welcomed the call for a public audit of the light rail project as a
significant step toward ensuring accountability of The Tide’s management and
oversight, the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot reports.

SMART commuter train plan delayed by economy






It’s unlikely the SMART
rail line linking Sonoma and Marin, Calif., counties will be finished by 2014
as promised to voters because the agency running the train project is wrestling
with a $155-million shortfall brought on by a stumbling economy, the Contra
Costa Times reports.

Elgin, Ill., group studying future of transportation






Continuing talks on
making the area more environmentally friendly focused Tuesday night on
expanding the use of trains, buses and bicycles countywide, according to the
Elgin Courier News, The Elgin, Ill., Community Network hosted a discussion at
Gail Borden Public Library that looked at the future of transportation in the
area. Among those attending were representatives from Metra, Kane County
Division of Transportation and Schaumburg-based engineering firm TranSystems,
the company contracted to draft the city’s Bikeway Master Plan.

Good news for Whitefish, Mont., Railroad District






Property owners in
Whitefish’s Railroad District and east of the middle school received good news
last week – lab results from 25 soil-borings revealed little or no
contamination from underground diesel fuel plumes originating in the BNSF Superfund
site, the Whitefish Pilot reports.

AREMA seeking mentors for student engineers






As the years pass, it
becomes more vital to introduce and educate the next generation to the railroad
industry. To aid in this cause, AREMA has developed a Mentoring Program to
benefit the AREMA Student Members. The association is currently seeking mentors
to influence the next generation as part of this Mentoring Program.

Measure R on right track for rail deal






Measure R money isn’t
just for road projects’ it can now be used to purchase railroad tracks, the
Foothills Sun-Gazette reports. The Tulare County, Calif., Board of Supervisors
approved an amendment to the Measure R expenditure plan that will allow the
county to purchase railroad fixtures including ties, ballast, tracks and
signals to ensure that the property is maintained for rail use.

STB to keep closer eye on effects of CN/EJ&E merger






The Surface
Transportation Board is requesting feedback from Chicago-area communities
affected by the merger of Canadian National Railway with the Elgin, Joliet
& Eastern Railway Co. The Board will also audit CN’s informational reports
that the railroad is required to file with the STB as a condition of the
merger.

Tompkinsville fare collection begins on Staten Island Railway






MTA NYC Transit said that
effective Wednesday, January 20, 2010, MTA Staten Island Railway will begin
fare collection at the newly constructed Tompkinsville Stationhouse. The $6.9-million
Tompkinsville Fare Collection Project included the construction of a stationhouse
entrance, the installation of turnstiles, cameras, fare vending and
communications equipment.

Crystal Lake, Ill., annexation deal paves way for Metra stop






Crystal Lake, Ill.,
officials have approved a pre-annexation agreement for a 17-acre site, where
Metra plans to build a commuter train stop, the Chicago Tribune reports. The
station, between the Woodstock and Crystal Lake stations, would cost an
estimated $5 million and take four years to open, Metra officials say. It is
part of a planned expansion to the Union Pacific Northwest line.

U.S. Treasurer, Dallas Mayor tout benefits of Build America Bonds






As part of the Obama
Administration’s efforts to highlight the local impact of economic stimulus
programs, U.S. Treasurer Rosie Rios met with Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert at the
Omni Dallas Convention Center Hotel construction site to highlight the use of
Build America Bonds in North Texas infrastructure projects. The Build America
Bonds program has provided $64 billion in low-cost borrowing to date for state
and local governments across the country, including almost $3 billion in North
Texas.


Washington mudslide halts Amtrak, BNSF, Sounder






Sound Transit commuter rail
service between Everett, Wash., and Seattle is shut down at least until the
evening of Jan. 21 because of a mudslide across the tracks, the Everett Herald
reports. The slide hit around 7:30 a.m. Jan. 19 in north Seattle, blocking the
tracks and forcing passengers on two of the four Sounder commuter trains to
disembark at Edmonds Station and ride buses the rest of the way to Seattle,
according to Sound Transit.

UTU fights Amtrak snow removal waiver






The UTU, BLET, the
Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes Division, the Brotherhood of
Railroad Signalmen and the American Train Dispatchers Association have asked
the FRA to deny an Amtrak request to waive permanently the existing mandatory
and safety-critical functions governing passenger-platform snow removal outside
the Northeast Corridor.

Siemens leads consortium to upgrade PATH signaling system






Port Authority Trans-Hudson
Corporation (PATH) has placed an order worth $321 million with a consortium led
by Siemens Mobility for the design, manufacture and installation of a new
Communication-based Train Control System. Upgrading the PATH system to CBTC
will increase the system’s throughput to meet future peak time demands, in
addition to increasing safety and reliability while reducing ongoing
maintenance costs. The project is due to be completed in 2017.

Some in Fairbanks want Alaska railroad moved






Alaska Assemblyman Hank
Bartos wants to move the railroad out of downtown Fairbanks and expand Pioneer
Park into a "winter wonderland" involving Ice Alaska, the railroad’s unhappy
tenant, the Daily News Miner reports.

Rail grants seen bypassing Texas






The federal government is
about to hand out a river of cash to states willing to build a network of
bullet trains, as the Obama administration and Democrats in Congress seek to
slowly ease the country’s dependence on automobiles and airplanes to make short
trips between its biggest cities, the Dallas Morning News reports. It’s the nation’s
first major investment in true high-speed rail, and among its most significant
pushes to locate trains of any kind far from the East Coast.